NASA Launches World’s Biggest, Most Powerful Space Telescope

By Our Special Correspondent

The world’s largest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away on a high-stakes quest to behold light from the first stars and galaxies and scour the universe for hints of life. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, named after its administrator during the 1960s, soared from French Guiana on South America’s northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane rocket into the Christmas morning sky of December 25, 2021. The $10 billion observatory hurtled toward its destination 1 million miles (1.6 million kilometers) away, or more than four time beyond the moon. It will take a month to get there and another five months before its infrared eyes are ready to start scanning the cosmos. “It’s going to give us a better understanding of our universe and our place in it: who we are, what we are, the search that’s eternal,” said NASA’s Administrator Mr. Bill Nelson. “When you want a big reward, you have to usually take a big risk,” he cautioned.

Intended as a successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope is designed to observe the very first galaxies formed 13.5 billion years ago. NASA partnered with the European and Canadian space agencies to build and launch the new 7-ton telescope, with thousands of people from 29 countries working on it since the 1990s. a wispy, five-layered sunshield, vital for keeping the light-gathering mirror and heat-sensing infrared detectors at subzero temperatures will protect the observatory. At 70 feet by 46 feet (21 meters by 14 meters), it is the size of a tennis court. The sunshield was scheduled to be opened up three days after liftoff and at least five days to unfold and lock into the place. The mirror segments were scheduled to open up like the leaves of a drop-leaf table in 12 days or so into the flight. In all, hundreds of release mechanisms need to work perfectly for the telescope to succeed. That was why, the NASA Programme Director, Mr. Greg Robinson, said, “Like nothing we have done before”.

For the last 32 years, the world watched the galaxies through the eyes of historic Hubble Space Telescope, Spacewalking repairs by astronauts transformed Hubble into a beloved marvel that has revolutionised humanity’s understanding of the universe, casting its eyes as far back as 13.4 billion years. It is now up to the Webb to draw even closer to the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, its infrared vision keener and more far-reaching than Hubble’s is in the shorter visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. NASA is shooting for 10 years of operational life from Webb.